Last night marked the last time I would see Denis Leary as a guest on “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart.” Amidst the laughter and familiar banter between these two long-time friends, I was suddenly gripped by a very melancholy feeling. This was it. This was ALMOST it. Shit. This is it. I’d been dreading this since February… And here it was. The end of “The Daily Show” as I knew it.

Like millions of other viewers, I had grown accustomed to watching “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” for my daily dose of ‘news made easy to digest.’ And while the show itself is not going away, its’ host of 16 years will be. Like him or not; agree with him or not; Jon Stewart’s departure from the show he brought out of semi-obscurity and turned into ‘must see’ TV, will be the marking of the end of an Era. And while some (FOX News, Rupert Murdoch, RNC) will rejoice at his departure, many of us will certainly feel the void he will leave behind.

When Jon Stewart took over “The Daily Show” in 1999 from Craig Kilborn, he’d already had two talk shows under his belt (I was fortunate enough to have seen a live taping of his MTV show way way way back in the day). He had been passed up a few times as a potential host for late shows on NBC and CBS. Everyone who had ever seen him do his schtick knew he was funny. I don’t think anyone expected him to turn, essentially, a ½ hour fake news show into a social phenomenon.

Throughout 16 years of rants, political opining, and social commentary intermingled with comedy, Jon Stewart stressed to anyone who questioned him, that he was simply a comedian, and his show was, essentially a “fake” news show. What it really was, was satire in the purist form. What Jon Stewart did with the Daily show was create a space wherein he could look at the days’ news and educate a populous that needed, essentially, “a little sugar to make the medicine go down.”

The fact is, comedian though he may be, he also knows how to deliver the news to a generation of people who simply cannot deal with the bullshit on CNN, MSNBC and FOX. We needed someone who can point at the ridiculousness of the daily news feed and those who ‘reported’ on it all and say “yeah, you’re right, they are TOTALLY Fucked up! No wonder you don’t give a shit anymore.. Here’s a way for you to hear what’s going on without the extraneous bullshit… and yeah, maybe laugh a little..” It was, I believe, largely due to his delivery of the news that an entire generation of people, less likely to become politically active, registered to vote and took part in the political process. Regardless of the outcome of the elections (two for Bush, two for Obama – he didn’t always get his candidate), he got the 20-Somethings involved in a way they hadn’t been before.

And it wasn’t just the 20-Somethings – He filled a niche that was needed in this country. One where those of us, fed up with hearing a whole lot of bullshit could hear our frustrations voiced on television in a way no one anywhere else could express themselves. He seemed to speak for those for those of us who, while we may lean socially towards the left, really just wanted to scream at both sides of our political landscape for their extreme game of tug of war with our lives.

The writers of that show clearly were under the direction of a person who wanted to make sure that even his most banal jokes were somehow based in well researched facts – Something that supposed “fair and balanced” news channels rarely seem to do. If Jon Stewart named statistics – they were real. If he referenced history – it was real. And on the rare occasion his facts were erroneous, he apologized.

Despite purporting he was just a comedian satirizing the news, and making it palatable for those of us who simply couldn’t watch the train wreck our government, and our ‘real’ news media, had become, Jon Stewart was named the Most Trusted Newscaster in America in a 2009 Time Magazine Poll.

Politicians that have come on the show, including, and maybe especially, the President himself, have admitted that his interviews were the toughest. They never knew what he was going to ask, or, what tangent he will go on in an effort to make them accountable for their actions. No, he wasn’t a serious Newsman, just a comedian. .. Or maybe he was just a guy who was asking all the questions the rest of us really wanted answered, as opposed to promoting the agenda of whatever the owners of a specific news channel wanted promoted.

The very evidence of his influence on the political and social landscape could be seen numerous times. He is credited with helping Vets gain better access to medical care, when after a searing segment on the inadequacies in the 40 mile rule in the “The Choice Program,” the Department of Veterans Affairs changed the rules making access to medical care easier for our country’s bravest. When a bill to help 9/11 first responders who came down with chronic diseases such as emphysema and lung cancer after breathing in the toxic air at Ground Zero, was blocked by Senate Republicans, an issue all but ignored by main stream media, Stewart decided to bring the issue to light. Three days after Jon Stewart dedicated an entire episode to the issue where he first lampooned the Senators blocking the bill, and then brought on a panel of first responders to discuss the issue, the bill was passed. Jon Stewart has also been credited with the termination of CNN’s “Crossfire,” the down fall of Glenn Beck, and the firing of Rick Sanchez. Not bad for a guy who is ‘just a comedian.’

Jon Stewart is also credited for helping launch the careers of Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, Larry Wilmore, Kristen Schaal, Olivia Munn, Ed Helms, Samantha Bee and Jason Jones (who are going to be launching their own show on TBS), Aasif Mandvi and of course, Jon’s successor, Trevor Noah.

Oh Trevor Noah.. What big shoes that man will have to fill. Not only is he replacing a man many of us turned to in the hopes of making sense out of the nonsensical, he is replacing a man even many politicians seemed to turn to to plead their cases. It sounds crazy that a comedian from Jersey who started his career, essentially trying to be the David Letterman of MTV, ended up being an essential stop on any campaign trail.

And while I have no doubt Trevor Noah will, much in the way Jon Stewart did, carve out his own path and gain his own following (hopefully, many Stewart fans will stick around as well), it is indeed going to be different. He is coming at this from a different angle. He has a different sense of humor. Even if he agrees with everything Jon Stewart has ever said, his take will be different and will more than likely take some getting used to. I am willing to try. But that doesn’t mean I won’t miss Jon Stewart’s perspective, which seems to so clearly reflect everything so many of us loyal viewers have thought but never saw reflected on any other channel.

I don’t know what the future holds for Jon Stewart, (other than the sanctuary farm he and his wife have purchased), but I hope after some rest and relaxation he recharges and comes back on the scene. It really won’t be the same without him. Especially with the current election cycle! Seriously, I would’ve loved to have seen his post-Republican Debate commentary. With Trump, Christie, Huckabee and the rest of the clown posse on the panel, it will be a gold mine of humor that practically writes itself. Alas, it is not meant to be as his last day on air coincides with the first debate (coincidence? Maybe – but the only people who will benefit from Jon Stewarts absence will be FOX News and the RNC, sadly).

Either way, I genuinely do wish Jon Stewart all the best and hope he enjoys his (seriously) early retirement.

Okay, I usually hate to get political, especially here. Seriously, the worst thing anyone can bring up in any conversation is either politics, or religion. You all already know my take on religion. I don’t believe in it. God? Yes. Religion? No.

Politically, I guess I lean more towards the liberal side. That’s fine. I can sit and have a conversation with folks who don’t believe the same as I do on any given day. Neither of us will change the other’s mind, and that’s fine too. It’s the way the world works. But there is absolutely no one who can convince me that the current actions of Republican Senators in regards to giving 9/11 First responders the medical assistance they need makes any sense what so ever.

The Zodroga Bill, more commonly known as the 9/11 First Responder’s Bill, should never have been subjected to any kind of partisan crap. I get it. Republicans don’t like Obama. They don’t want to help him achieve anything. They will filibuster everything. And the Democratic side, even when they HAD the majority are the “please like me” party full of nothing but a bunch of pussies who basically bend over backwards trying to please everyone and getting absolutely nothing done.

But really? THIS???

As someone who lived through the events of 9/11, and worked, even after that date, just a few blocks from Ground Zero, I can tell you THIS pisses me off. The passing of the bill has absolutely nothing to do with me, personally. Clearly, I wasn’t a first responder. However, it DOES have to do with all the men and women who worked on that site, inhaling toxic fumes daily, and the ONLY reason they are being denied any assistance is because of the ridiculous pissing contest the Republican side of the senate insists on having with the Democrats. I get it, okay? You’ve held up a whole lot of shit that I think would benefit this country. You can give me your reasons for the other things you held up and I can even see how MAYBE some of it, makes sense (not to me, but okay). But for a group that has used 9/11 as the excuse for everything you have (and haven’t) done in the past nine years, the LEAST that you can do, and I do mean LEAST, is pass a bill that helps provide medical assistance for the folks who worked on that smoking pile of toxicity and are still paying the price for it.

One Senator said that he hasn’t had the time to read through it all, and thinks that it would be an affront to Christians everywhere if he worked the week between Christmas and New Years to try and figure it out. Excuse me? Wait. I understand not working Christmas. Fine. But what’s the religious significance of the days between December 25 and December 31.

Mike Huckabee (maybe one of the few Republicans, who I might not always agree with, but who, I can actually see as making sense), actually said, and I’m paraphrasing, on the Jon Stewart show last night that these Senators SHOULD work that week, because it would make up for the rest of the year of them doing nothing. I agree.. 100%

If I sound upset, it’s because I genuinely am. Can you imagine if Firefighters took a vote on 9/11? Sounds ridiculous right? Well so does this hold up. It is unconscionable. These fat assed Senators need to just get the fuck over themselves and show some humanity towards the people who literally risked their lives and do so every time they go into a burning building.

Here is a clip from last night’s episode of “The Daily Show,” where Jon Stewart discusses the Zodroga Bill and the Senate’s inability to see past their own selfish agendas, with actual 9/11 first responders. Seriously, tell me, after watching this, you wouldn’t want to go bitch-slap one of the senators holding up this bill too..